Soft Start Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 430 points or 7.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,760-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the Middle East conflict, although easing oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses among the technology, chemical and automobile sectors, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index plunged 161.81 points or 2.73 percent to finish at 5,763.22 after trading between 5,738.95 and 5,863.39. Volume was 1.17 billion shares worth 22.6 trillion won. There were 678 decliners and 204 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.58 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.65 percent, Hana Financial skidded 1.14 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 3.84 percent, Samsung SDI shed 0.62 percent, LG Electronics cratered 3.17 percent, SK Hynix tanked 4.07 percent, Naver surrendered 2.65 percent, LG Chem plunged 5.16 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.49 percent, SK Innovation contracted 3.50 percent, POSCO Holdings slumped 3.29 percent, SK Telecom declined 3.69 percent, KEPCO lost 3.30 percent, Hyundai Mobis plummeted 3.95 percent, Hyundai Motor crashed 4.22 percent and Kia Motors stumbled 2.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and stayed that way for most of the session, although a late rally pared the damage to mild by the day's end.

The Dow dropped 203.72 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46,021.43, while the NASDAQ sank 61.73 points or 0.28 percent to close at 22,090.69 and the S&P 500 fell 18.21 points or 0.27 percent to close at 6,606.49.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the escalation of the war in the Middle East following attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the region.

However, after soaring to nearly $120 a barrel following the latest attacks, Brent crude oil futures have pulled back sharply, contributing to the recovery attempt by stocks.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday as traders dissected U.S. inventory data showing ample supply against production and supply disruption concerns due to the Middle East war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.14 per barrel.